Chapter V Introduction to

e-Government

Overview

Concepts: Government & Technology

Governments' use of ICTs is now well established: from the use of mainframes for mass-

processing tasks,

to email, WWW and the full-range of enterprise IT technologies.

Governments adopt new technological solutions.

Governments facilitate the development of ICT industries.

Governments benefit from embracing ICT.

Concepts : Government & Society

Governments are under pressure: from globalisation

from fiscal demands

from evolving societies

from citizen expectations

They are expected to be responsive to social change, to address

public concerns, to manage public funds efficiently, etc.

The expectations on governments grow as IS is more widespread.

Concepts: Response

Public reform: customer orientation

business-like management

citizen engagement and trust, etc.

ICT on governments' agendas: e-government strategies

e-government development targets

e-government coordination offices and structures

Concepts: Resistance

At the same time: governments adapt slowly

they tend to regard e-government as only one among

many challenges they confront

Concepts: e-Government

Different definitions: Internet (on-line) service delivery and other Internetbased

activity by governments – front-office only

All uses of ICT by governments, on-line and off-line, frontoffice and back-office

Capacity to transform public administration through the use of ICT or new forms of government built around ICT

They reflect different priorities in government strategies, and shift as priorities change and progress is made.

Concepts: e-Government Definition

Definition : e-Government refers to the use of ICT, particularly the Internet, as a tool to achieve better government.

Concepts: e-Government as a Tool

e-Government is not an aim in itself. It is a tool to enable:

better policy outcomes

higher quality of services

more efficient use of public funds

more efficient government processes

greater engagement with citizens and businesses

improvements in other selected performance indicators, etc.

e-Government is more about government than about “e”!

What starts as a technical exercise at developing more responsive public services becomes an exercise in governance.

Reasons

Reasons for e-Government

The main reasons to embrace e-government: e-government improves efficiency

e-government improves service quality

e-government helps achieve policy outcomes

e-government contributes to achieving economic objectives

e-government can be the major contributor to reform

e-government builds trust between citizens and government

Reasons for e-Government

Until now, the main drivers for e-government have been efficiency gains and effective delivery of policy outcomes.

Recently, the focus has shifted to other objectives: improving services, increasing accountability, facilitating engagement.

Efficiency

Cost reduction is the major driver for ICT use by governments: replacing paper-based application processes with Internet

applications – cut down costs of data re-entry and checking

improved booking arrangements – more efficient use of

scarce resources: skilled staff and facilities

greater sharing of data within government – eliminate costs

of multiple collections, data reconciliation and checking

reduce government publication and distribution costs by relying more on on-line publications, etc.

Greater efficiencies are generated from ICT projects that involve transformation of business processes.

Efficiency

Customer Focus

Adopting customer focus is the main part of the countries' public reform agendas and e-government strategies.

Definition: Customer focus is about providing citizens and businesses with a coherent interface with government which reflects their needs rather than the structure of the government.

Customer Focus Initiatives

e-Government initiatives to improve customer focus: on-line portals focused on particular topics or groups,

bringing together relevant information and services

targeting of on-line information to specific groups of citizen

so that relevant information can be found more readily

e-mail lists to push customised information to specific groups,

whenever the information becomes available

allowing identified users to carry out routine transactions with the government as on-line government services

Efficiency

Improve Policy Outcome

e-Government can help achieve better outcomes in major policy areas, such as: taxation policy - improved collection of taxes through

increased sharing of information by agencies

health policy - reduced demand for health services through better use of health information and scarce health resources

fiscal policy - reduced unemployment payments owing to better matching of the unemployed and vacancies

social policy - promoting the use of native languages and awareness of indigenous people

environmental policy – through better sharing of information between national and sub-national governments

It is expected that all policy areas will be affected by e-government.

Economic Objectives

Through reduced corruption, greater openness and increased trust in government, e-government contributes to economic objectives.

Specific measures: improving business productivity by administrative

simplification and on-line support for small and medium-size businesses

business portals providing access to economic information - market trends, export opportunities, assistance programmes

reduced government calls on public funds through more effective programs and operations

direct consumption of ICT goods and services by government is significant and more stable than by private sector

Public Management Reform

Public management reform has been on the agendas of many countries long before e-government emerged.

Reform and e-government are mutually dependant: reform is necessary for e-government to deliver

e-government is an enabler of the reform

Reform for e-Government

Reform is necessary for e-government to deliver: The promise of e-government will not materialise

by simply digitising government information and placing it on-line.

Instead, e-government is about the use of ICT to transform the structures, operations and the culture of government.

e-Government for Reform

e-Government is an enabler of the reform: • it serves as a tool for reform:

simplifies administrative processes

makes such processes more transparent

helps to deliver services in more efficient ways

facilitates the integration of services and processes

enables seamless government

e-Government for Reform

e-Government is an enabler of the reform: • it serves as a tool for reform:

it renews public interest in the reform

Captures imagination of political leaders and civil servants.

Raises citizen expectations, creating pressure on government.

it highlights internal government inconsistencies

it underscores commitment to good governance objectives

Citizens Engagement

Building trust between government and citizens is fundamental.

In the absence of trust: the rule of law

legitimacy of government decisions

support for specific government reforms

may be all called into question. ICT is an enabler to build trust by engaging

citizens.

Citizens Engagement

Ways of engagement: consultation and feedback by service users – web

logs, questionnaires and feedback contacts

citizen engagement in policy making – consultation and active participation to better address constituents' needs

helping individual's voice be heard

Challenges

Challenges to e-Government

Implementation of e-government can face a number of challenges.

The following have to be addressed on a whole-of-government basis in order to be overcome: legislative barriers – e-government processes must have the

same standing as paper-based processes

financial barriers – funding arrangements should account for the agencies working together on e-government projects

technology change – adoption of whole-of-government standards, software integration and middleware technologies

digital divide – large differences in the level of access to the Internet and therefore ability to benefit from e-government

Legislative Barriers

Governments must ensure that a proper legal framework exists before e-government initiatives and processes can take up.

What is needed: Recognition of electronic processes and services as

equivalent with paper-based processes and services. The legal recognition of digital signatures is necessary!

Clarification of requirements on the agencies implementing e-government: what they can and cannot do. Attention areas: data security, technical standards, existing ICT regulations, agency cooperation frameworks.

Legislative Barriers

What is needed: Overcoming collaboration barriers:

• accountability rules designed to ensure responsible use of public resources by clearly identifying who does what Who is responsible for the shared project?

• performance management also follows clear distinction of who does what

How to evaluate shared project?

Legislations designed to protect the privacy and security of data, to balance free access with society's expectations.

Budgetary Barriers

Traditional public management funding: vertical funding structure

agency is held accountable for achieving its mission

agency receives the resources to accomplish its mission

the resources are budgeted on the annual or bi-annual basis

This principle does not act in favour of e-government projects that involve long-term funding and collaboration across agencies.

Barriers to e-Gov Funding

Factors acting against e-government funding: e-government is unlikely to win out in competition with other

public policy objectives e.g. health, education, security

it is difficult to measure costs and potential benefits of e-government, so to develop funding cases for projects

if not treated as capital investment, e-government has to compete with other pressing recurrent funding proposals, and will seem to involve comparatively large expenditure

governments are reluctant to commit expenditure beyond budgeting horizons, and yet many e-government projects are of multi-annual nature

Barriers to e-Gov Funding

Factors acting against e-government collaboration: the vertical nature of traditional budget arrangements do not

encourage shared funding of collaborative projects

difficulties to assess the extent to which agencies benefit from (and should contribute to) shared projects

performance-based budgeting rewards independent projects

at the expense of collaborative projects

no framework for benefit-sharing, so no incentives to eliminate redundant systems by sharing systems with other agencies

Measures to e-Gov Funding

Measures to assist e-government funding: classifying major e-government projects as capital

investment with up-front capital outlays and subsequent benefits

separate approval by the e-government coordination office to ensure no duplication of inconsistency with broader strategies

public-private partnerships to overcome: capital limitations, budget-time horizons, disincentives for collaboration

central funding for innovation for high-risk demonstration project that wouldn't receive funding otherwise

a government-wide approach to the assessment of costs and benefits of e-government

ability for agencies to retain savings created by e- government

Measures to e-Gov Collaboration

Measures to assist e-government collaboration: central register of e-government initiatives seeking funding

central funds to encourage certain initiatives e.g. collaboration

lead agency model – an agency funds a project that benefits other agencies as well as itself

several agencies coordinating their approach to obtain funding

pooled funding – several agencies share funding for a common project, under a semi-contractual arrangement

agency payment model – co-ordinating agency funds the project, other agencies then pay to use the service

a mandatory levy on agencies to enable some joint projects

Technology Change

Technology-related barriers to e-government: legacy systems

lack of shared infrastructure

too rapid technological changes, etc.

Complex technical issues arise.

Legacy Systems

Legacy systems can be a major barrier to e-government.

Integrating back-office information systems with Internet to provide on-line access to clients, has occupied many e-government projects.

Common solutions: middleware and web services

data-exchange standards relying on XML

Also, promotion of government-wide frameworks, standards and data definitions by e-government coordinators.

Lack of Shared Infrastructure

Technology-related barriers to collaboration between agencies and the uptake of e-government: lack of shared standards

lack of compatible infrastructure between agencies

Infrastructure development is too expensive for a single agency.

Shared development faces budgetary and collaboration barriers. What can be done?

Shared Infrastructure & e-Gov

Governments can provide a technological, legal and organizational framework for delivering electronic services: common technical standards

common technical infrastructure

whole-of-government approach to lower the legal and technical barriers for inter-agency cooperation

whole-of-government approach to reduce redundancy, e.g. by adopting common back-office processes

Technology Change

How to plan development of e-government facing uncertainty over the fast-moving technological change?

Public-private partnership is one solution, provided they are in the areas where established standards already exist in the market.

Technology Change

Other approaches: technology neutrality in legislation and regulation

flexibility within broad regulatory frameworks

adaptation of current laws to a digital world

involvement of all stakeholders in the regulatory process

international cooperation to harmonise approaches

performance requirements rather than technical specifications when procuring new technologies

Digital Divide

e-Government can indirectly improve services to citizens with no Internet access - back-office improvements, however: Advantages of on-line services cannot be replicated off-line,

so people without Internet access will be unable to benefit.

The groups in society with lower level of access are already disengaged - the target of government intervention. Such groups have higher level of interaction with government:

• establishing identity

• entitlement for assistance

• complex medical or social intervention

Some, but not all, suited for on-line provision.

Many governments pursue policies to reduce digital divide.